Music Review #4:

Styx

Equinox

1975

A&M Records

Equinox is a very pertinent musical adventure. From cover to track-list, it is an album that sticks out (unlike a sore thumb) in Styx's discography. 1975 was still a decent year for progressive rock, but at the same time similarly being around the peak of the industries career. The true identity and greatness of Styx weaves all the way back to around '73, but a culmination of debut era sound and a more mature skill-set came a wonderful product for the ages. Remember, this was before the 80's Styx, who's synthetic commercialization was extremely forthright and seemed almost prideful to show to world. Equinox was a symbol of a more honest era, where instruments like synthesizers were modest and used in the right places instead of being sprawled out willy-nilly. Perhaps my favorite tracks on the album come from the fantastic juxtaposition of black-face progressive rock and the heavy metal/hard rock that Styx started to develop as the 70's went on. A very understandable comparison has been made between this album and Kansas' music (circa. Masque), which is very understandable. But while Kansas is very upfront about their symphonics, Styx utilizes both that and proto-metal 70's hard rock (which was stated before). For those neigh-sayers who enjoy saying that Styx if very light with the prog then I urge you to listen to Equinox. 

If you have already, well, do it again. 

© 2015 - The Frying Pan & Thatcher 

Originally written for Prog Archives on 11/8/2015.

Visit the site at www.progarchives.com

Music Review #3:

Nine Inch Nails

Pretty Hate Machine

1989

TVT Records

Dark, brooding, and emotional, Trent Reznor broke onto the music scene with his 1989 album 

titled Pretty Hate Machine. he envisioned for a band that would, using metallic undertones to 

bring out a more righteous clang to his point, make points of sociopolitical commentary. This 

album was written and recorded to embody this spirit. Did Pretty Hate Machine accomplish 

what it was made for? 

...No, I'd say it didn't.

The album overall achieved a good round of applause from most critics, although not all of 

them took well to Reznor's work. However most progressive rock fans that at the least call 

Reznor a 'prog' artist and his band a prog band would do well to stay away from this one. 

Instead of the usually dreary electronic use most commonly found in artists such as Stabbing 

Westward, Orgy, Ministry, and later NiN works, the album functions around a steady theme of 

catchy alternative rock beats and composition, albeit with some amateur technological use 

overlapping it. 

Pretty Hate Machine brings to the table a large theme of anger, with blatantly spiteful lyrics and, 

as stated before, social commentary. But that doesn't excuse the fact that this album is 

annoying. I've seen many bands accomplish commentary such as this and do it well. A band 

that comes to mind are Porcupine Tree, which actually implies subtly the ideology of anti-

systematical lyrics mixed in with their enjoyable music. Here, it's more along the lines of 

Reznor and his emo friends recording an album during their aggressive teenage phase. Other 

than that, the songs are just plain boring. The 'catchy' riffs used on the album are over repetitive 

and rely on a similar theme, giving the illusion that all of the songs are the same. The only track 

that I've found to stand out is the ever present 'Head Like a Hole', although even that song is 

just a casual listen and not material for a respectful intake of the album itself. 

So, all in all, this is a skippable one. Mostly because any fan of Nine Inch Nails would enjoy 

their later works more than the earlier material, but even if your not a fan you would do well not 

to pick this one up. Alternative electronic rock? No thanks.

© 2015 - The Frying Pan & Thatcher 

Originally written for Metal Music Archives on 2/9/2015.

Visit the site at www.metalmusicarchives.com

Music Review #2:

Purge Solenoid

Transtactile

2013

(Self Released)

Purge Solenoid brings the heavier side of the eclectic rainbow with their debut onto the prog scene. Transtactile does not have much visible influence by prog bands of old, but they do indeed have their own theme. Much in the vein of something I'd think of as by Mahavishnu Orchestra, almost every song (if not every) is zany, powerful, and leaves a strong aftereffect of great magnitude. Although repetition is a basic theme, I will not go against it. Many bands have indeed had similar sounding songs; bands of any genre, but it doesn't matter because in the end it all holds up it's end of the deal and gives the album a basic theme: insane. I love insane music- weird, just strange things that may not even be classified songs have not much sway on me but I can coexist. This is of course different from what people would call "noise" (a genre I rarely find myself delving into), but does have a similar foreground of wacky instrumentation. Magnificent skill is taken with these sorts of things and Solenoid does not disappoint.

May be crazy, but never stoops to monotonous.

© 2015 - The Frying Pan & Thatcher 

Originally written for Prog Archives on 9/6/2015.

Visit the site at www.progarchives.com

Music Review #1:

Phish

Billy Breathes
1996

Elektra Records

I first saw this album's cover and was slightly unsettled by its unfortunate cosmetic it was 

sporting. This factor is most likely the main reason it took me a substantial amount of time 

to listen to it, and only then it was because my friend very graciously gave it to me as a gift. 

To me this really says something, because to me an album's physical presentation may be 

just as if not more important financially than the actual content of the album. But, 

unbeknownst to me, Billy had something in store for me, and it wasn't disappointing as he 

lead me to believe. 

Phish was already gathering steam from their getting signed on in '89 and the release of 

their first album in the same year. The albums that were released from that year till '96 were, 

as their dedicated fan-base of "Phish-heads" proclaims, some of their best material. 

Amongst these were the aforementioned debut, Lawn Boy (1990), Picture of Nectar (1992), 

and Rift (1993). Others like Crimes of The Mind (a collaboration with The Dude of Life) 

(1994) and Hoist (1994) were less impressive but still added a few songs to the band's 

repertoire to be extenuated into long, superfluous jams played in their vastly increasing 

number of live shows. 

1996 came around, two years after their last album, titled Billy Breathes. This was a year 

before what can be undoubtedly described as one of if not the best year of Phish's career, 

where Phish as a whole made around 10 million dollars from their performances played 

seemingly every day. Billy Breathes was the last album to add to the collection of songs that 

would be played, and it really deserves it. 

Billy Breathes contains perhaps the most heartfelt and diverse music Phish has ever 

performed. It blends perfectly aspects of classic american rock, jazz, acoustic, ambient, and 

of course the ever-present Phish tomfoolery. There are a few short but sweet acoustic 

guitar-led songs that utilize beautiful ambient soundscapes, such as 'Bliss' and 'Swept 

Away'. The shorter songs also do a very good job at piecing together into a larger song if 

they're placed side by side in the tracklist. Progressive rock litters the album, and although not thorough, 

it is noticeable. 'Theme From the Bottom' is a very nice piece, and an early ode to Picture of 

Nectar with it's lyrics and composition. The title track is very similar to it as well, though has 

more folk than past Phish did.

Before I spoil anything more I suggest that you buy Billy Breathes. It is one of Phish's best 

works if not THE best. If Phish isn't your taste, I'd still suggest this any day for it's creative 

ability to draw you in with talent alone.

© 2015 - The Frying Pan & Thatcher 

Originally written for Prog Archives on 10/22/2015.

Visit the site at www.progarchives.com